Intel wraps up Android 4.1 port for Medfield smartphones

Intel has announced that it has completed its work on porting the latest version of Android to operate on smartphones equipped with its Medfield processors. While Intel has finished the work of making Android 4.1 Jelly Bean compatible with smartphones running its processors, the company has no idea when the smartphones will be updated. Updating the operating system on the devices is up to the carriers and manufacturers.

Intel VP and general manager of the mobile computing group Mike Bell said that multiple Intel employees were currently using Medfield smartphones running Android 4.1. Medfield smartphones originally shipped running either Android 2.3 or Android 4.0. According to Bell, the operating system compatible with Medfield processors has been handed off to carriers to put on their phones and will have to go through acceptance testing.

Bell also noted that he can’t announce Android 4.1 testing or deployment on behalf of carriers or device makers. Medfield devices aren’t exactly common on the smartphone market. Intel does have its processors inside some smartphones with Orange, ZTE, Lava International, Lenovo, and Megafon. We talked about the ZTE Grand X IN that runs the Medfield processor previously.

Currently, Medfield processors used in smartphones are single-core Atom chips. There is some expectation that Motorola will announce a smartphone using Medfield chips next week. Currently ARM processors dominate the smartphone market because of their power miserly nature. Intel’s mobile processors are currently considered more power-hungry than comparable ARM offerings. Smartphones with processors that consume more power have less runtime per battery charge, and run time is critical in the smartphone market.